This week my garden has turned into quite a noisy place, all thanks to the freshly hatched citizens of the bird world, who have just left their nests and – with a lot of enthusiasm (and sometimes literally) – plunged straight into independence. I’m talking, of course, about young great tits and blackbirds, which you can now spot almost everywhere – under the gooseberry bush, on the shed roof, or even in my raised beds and pots.

Let’s start with the great tits – small, but oh-so-determined birds. Two young ones have shown up in my garden, and they’ve chosen their little stage under the gooseberry bush and among the strawberries.

The mother tit constantly drops something into their hungry beaks – sometimes a piece of nut, sometimes an insect dug out from the soil. The fledglings sit on the ground, still clumsy but extremely, extremely hungry. And loud! Their chirping is like an alarm – empty stomachs here!

A great tit, though it weighs only about 20 grams, can eat almost its own weight in food every day! During the chick-rearing period, it may bring food to the nest more than 1,000 times a day.

On the gooseberry bush sits a young, impatiently screaming little bird. The female cracks open nuts, casts a glance at the noisy fledgling, and every so often slips a bite into its beak. He urges her on impatiently – faster, or I’ll starve!

Even after leaving the nest, young great tits are fed by their parents for 1–2 weeks. During that time, they learn to recognize food and practice their first flights – often ending with emergency landings on the greenhouse wall or the shed door.

And now for the blackbirds. Their youngster has also decided to go independent, but – as it turns out – not very gracefully. He’s especially fond of the water container and my horseradish bed.

In the water container, the young blackbird has a bath, while at the same time shouting at the top of his lungs that he’s hungry. The female rummages in the soil, looking for worms, and soon the male joins her – and interestingly, they both feed the chick.

It’s a truly exceptional sight! Usually, once the young leave the nest, the female blackbird disappears. Literally. She may go looking for a new mate and lay another clutch, leaving the father to raise the youngsters on his own. But in my case – full cooperation. Nature sure knows how to surprise us.

You don’t need a nature reserve or a vast forest – just a small garden, a few shrubs, a birdbath, and a bit of patience. Birds will happily settle in our world if we offer them even a little safe space. And they repay us – not only with their song, but also with wonderful little scenes of life that sometimes resemble our own family dramas. Only instead of a pot of soup – it’s nuts and worms.